1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an orientation device, and, more particularly, to an orientation device for the movement of a metal lamination.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cold rolled steel also referred to as lamination steel, is in common use today for the production of laminations used in electric motors. The ease of stamping cold rolled steel and the resulting low tool wear contribute to the low cost of finished laminations. Whether this or some other material is used to produce the laminations, the process of making laminations include multiple operations before they are assembled as an electric machine, such as an electric motor or an electric generator.
For example, once a lamination is cut from a sheet of steel, features cut into each lamination require that a subsequent operation index the lamination so that additional features can be added to the lamination. This can be handled in different ways. First, once the lamination has had an initial feature imparted to the lamination, the lamination may be stacked in an indexed manner and then moved in a coordinated manner to preserve the indexed position to a subsequent operation. This method unfortunately requires expensive handling of the stack of laminations. A second way is to have a non-indexed stack, then move each lamination to an indexing device, then move the lamination to the subsequent operation. This method suffers from the need to have a separate indexing station and the loss of floor space therefor. A third way is to put the lamination into the subsequent operation and have that device orient the lamination before performing the subsequent operation. This method disadvantageously significantly increases the cost of the tooling and slows the machine down because it first has to orient the lamination before performing a function on the lamination.
What is needed in the art is an effective device to overcome these problems and to present the subsequent operational device with a pre-oriented lamination.